At the time of the Award, Dr. Melody Tucker was:

Biographical Information

Possessing a blend of high enthusiasm and creative instruction, Dr. Melody Tucker is indispensable to Citronelle High School, teaching everything from regular, Honors and AP Biology, to Honors Anatomy and Physiology to her eager classes.

Creating a college atmosphere in the classroom, Tucker uses innovative, project-based instructional techniques to engage her students and yield results. One of her memorable tasks involved asking them to create a 3-D replica of a cell, which they presented to their peers and then defended. Another assignment was completing an interactive biology notebook of different strategies that Tucker had created.

Tucker's use of real-world examples, technology and labs has led her students to maintain a 93% passing rate at this high-poverty school. Tucker's classroom presence is commanding, and she paces herself to work with all, including honors, regular and special needs students. To complement her classroom practices, she works with online programs such as Moodle, GradPoint and ACCESS to help students stay on track with assignments.

Tucker chairs the science department and serves on the school leadership team and the Southern Regional Education Board leadership team. She is a trained Alabama New Teacher Mentor, participates in the Alabama Math, Science, and Technology Initiative (AMSTI), and coordinates a summer program for at-risk and rural students. Tucker has helped to write the science curriculum for the district and helps introduce teachers to new technologies. She has developed a student-focused assistant program to implement in schools, is a National Honor Society sponsor, part-time instructor at the University of South Alabama, and a member of the Alabama Biology Resource Advisory Team. She is heavily involved with school, district and state educational initiatives.

But most saliently, Tucker’s students are emboldened by her, while her former students return from college regularly to ask for her help and advice. One in particular who had had a learning disability is now in college with an A average and credits Tucker with helping and empowering her to excel.

Tucker received her Bachelor of Science in biology with a teaching certification and minor in music from the University of Mobile in 2005. She performed her graduate work in instructional design at the University of South Alabama, where she earned a Master of Education in 2008 and a Doctor of Philosophy in 2013.